Record number of students, faculty to lead spring break missions
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Eighteen teams totaling a record 350 Lipscomb University students and employees will participate in spring break mission and service efforts March 14-20.
Fourteen of the teams will travel to international locations and four will work in the United States, said Mark Jent, coordinator of missions development at Lipscomb.
"Our aim is to help every Lipscomb student discover and develop his or her own personal ministry. With that in mind, Lipscomb offers students a unique opportunity to help advance the kingdom of God in mission efforts of many types on campus, in Nashville, and throughout the world," Jent said.
The total number participating continues the trend of increasing spring break mission participation at Lipscomb. Some 170 students and employees participated in nine efforts in 2002, while 310 participated last year in 15 trips, Jent said.
Six of the 18 efforts are new this year, including Anthem, Ariz.; Ciudad de Angeles, Cozumel; Catacamas, Honduras; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and two additional teams to England and Scotland, Jent said.
Dr. Fred Gilliam, associate dean of the Raymond B. Jones School of Engineering at Lipscomb, is one of three engineering faculty leading the Catacamas team.
"This trip is happening because of the determination of our students to use their engineering skills to serve the Lord and other people," Gilliam said. "We hope to show the people of this village that we care for them because God cares for us all, and we hope this will be the first of many engineering mission trips sponsored by Lipscomb."
Lincoln Rogers, a junior from Winchester, Tenn., will go to Honduras in his first spring break mission trip.
"Though it will be a tough and busy week, I know the people that I meet will impact my life in many ways and I know that I will be spiritually renewed by seeing the love of God in people I have never met," he said.
In addition to the U.S., other countries and the number of teams working during the break include Honduras, four; Mexico, three; England, two, Scotland, two, and Guatemala, Jamaica and Saba, one each, Jent said.
The largest single group - 49 students and faculty - will work at the City of Children in Ensenada, Mexico. The City of Children will attract the largest number of workers for the ninth consecutive year, Jent said.
Twelve trips are already in planning for summer break, he said, to Australia, China, Ghana, Kenya, Russia, Peru, Brazil, Romania, and to domestic works in Missouri and New York.